Family
by GummieBear37
Summary: A series of one-shots involving a brotherly/father and son relationship between Inuyasha and Shippo. Chapter 1, Nightmares.


**Okay, this is a little something that I will prbbebly wright when I have no ideas for my other fics, so I really hope you like it ^^. I've been reading and watching Inuyasha for a while now and noticed that these two are a little like brothers if not father an son, so I dessided to try this out. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Shut up, brat!"

"_You_ shut up, half-bread!"

THUMP!

"Waaaa! Kagome, Inuyasha's being mean to me!"

Kagome sighed. This was probably the hundredth time those two demons – or demon and half-demon – had fought, and Shippo had only been with them a couple of days. She was really sleepy, as it was getting late and they had already set up their small camp for the night, with the small camp fire blazing brightly in the growing darkness, and her sleeping bag rolled out on the ground.

"Could you two stop fighting for 10 minutes!" she snapped at them, who were squabbling like little kids, though Shippo was a little kid.

"Hey, the brat started it!" argued the white-haired male, frowning.

"Did not, you did!" pouted Shippo.

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did-"

"Sit boy!" shouted Kagome, forcing Inuyasha to crash face first into the ground.

"What you do that for!" he yelled at her, not all that happy about getting dirt all over his face, along with a sore nose.

"Because you wouldn't shut up! Geez, is it to much to ask for just one night where you two aren't fighting!"

"It's his fault, not mine," Shippo muttered under his breath, but loud enough for everyone to hear him.

"You wanna say that to my face, brat?" snarled Inuyasha. "Oh, no, wait, you can't, you too unbelievably short!"

"Hey, I'm still a kid, idiot!"

"Enough!" Kagome yelled. "If you too don't stop fighting right now then I'm not going to give you any more instant noodles!"

"What?" said Inuyasha. "You can't do that!"

"Serves you right," smirked Shippo.

"And I won't give you any more candy," she warned the small fox demon.

"What?" asked Shippo, in complete shock. Earlier, Kagome and shared some of her chocolate bar with Shippo. He had never heard of it, let alone tasted it. He thought that it was the best food in the whole world, and now she was threatening him with it!? That was so unfair! It was that stupid Inuyasha who always picked fight with him, not the other way around. Though… if he had to admit it – and only to himself, no one else – he did start some of the arguments. But only a few!

"So, we have an agreement?"

Inuyasha and Shippo glared angrily at each other, before muttering "Fine."

"Good, now go to sleep," she told them, as she clambered into her sleeping bag.

"But I'm not sleepy!" said Shippo, with a long yawn.

"Yeah, sure your not," muttered Inuyasha, as he jumped up into a low branch which was hanging over the place were Kagome slept.

Shippo leaned back on the tree trunk, curling up and hugging his bushy tail like he always did when he was going to sleep. He didn't need a blanket or a sleeping bag like Kagome, he didn't ever get cold… well maybe only sometimes, but he would never let them know that, especially Inuyasha. He would just tease him about it, like he would if he ever found out that he still sucked him thumb. His eyes got heaver and heavier at he stared into the slowly dieing flames, and before long, he fell into compliant darkness.

* * *

Inuyasha fumed angrily to himself. Who did that brat think he was anyway? He had no respect for him, none! Zip! Nada! And it was ticking him of no end. He didn't even see why the kid had to hang around with them in the first place; he would only cause trouble later on because he was useless in a fight. Sighing heavily, he realised that he wasn't getting anywhere with arguing it himself, so decided to just try and get a bit of sleep while he could, before the brat did something to wake him up or something.

Suddenly, loud gasping noises reached his dog like ears. _'Too late,' _he thought somewhat bitterly, as he glanced bellow, finding Shippo sat upright, panting heavily and looking around everywhere. He had half a mind to yell at him, but decided against it as he might wake up a very angry Kagome. However, his thoughts of ignoring the little fox demon where stopped, when he hared muffled, choking sob's. He froze. Was he… no, he couldn't be… but… was that little brat actually crying?

"Hey, what's wrong?" Inuyasha asked, a little worried about him. Wait a minute, worried? Why should he be worried about him?

Shippo froze slightly at the sound of the half-demon's voice, and immediately tried to control him tears. "Nnn… n-noth-thing…" he muttered, his voice breaking, causing a few more gasping sob's to escape, despite his efforts. The young demon's face was now crimson red, not just from crying, but also from embarrassment. Why? Why, that night of all nights did that stupid half-demon have to stay awake longer then everyone else?

Inuyasha frowned. "Don't you lie to me, Shippo," he told the boy, irritated that he wouldn't tell him. "Nobody wakes up in the middle of the night bawling their eyes out for no reason."

"Sh-shut… up! 'M n-not… b-baw-wling…" he blubbered, his face now not just wet with tears, but also from sweat, mucus and saliva. Not a very pretty sight. He was in a complete state.

Inuyasha felt every awkward and out of place. He didn't exactly like seeing him that upset, but he had no idea what to do to stop the little brat from crying. Finally, fallowing his instincts, he jumped down from the tree next to Shippo, who shuffled away from him, desperately trying to calm down and wipe his face clean with his sleeves, not looking into his eyes. As he felt one of Inuyasha's clawed hands wrap itself around his torso, he immediately stiffened, worried about exactly what he might do to him. But instead of getting hit or thrown like he expected, he what lift up and gently placed on the man's lap.

Blinking in shock and confusion, Shippo cocked his head up, to look at Inuyasha, who was staring straight ahead towards the slowly dying fames of the fire, a very slight blush on his cheeks. The young fox demon fidgeted slightly in this grip, but surprisingly enough, he actually enjoyed it. He somehow felt safe and secure in his warm arms, hearing the comforting heartbeats, which pounded inside the man's chest. He wasn't even sure why Inuyasha was doing anything like this. It wasn't as if the half-demon actually liked him or anything, so why hold him like this?

Once his weeps had turned to sniffles, Inuyasha gently patted him on his head, ruffling his hair. "You done now?" he asked, though his voice was softer the usual.

"Uh-huh," he mumbled, sniffing and wiping the last of the stuff of his face.

"Bad dream." It was more of a statement then a question.

"Uh-huh," Shippo repeated.

"What happened?"

Shippo hesitated. "I… I don't know…"

"Hey, don't lie to me," he told him, a little firmer.

"I'm not! I just… can't remember." He began to shake a little in his arms.

"You… don't remember?" he asked, going back to his gentle voice.

"No…"

"You can't remember what scared you that badly?"

"Uh-uh…"

The two remained silent for a few minutes before Inuyasha spoke again. "Maybe… it's just the shock…"

"Huh?" Shippo asked the silent question.

"Kid, your parent are both dead," he explained bluntly. "It's kinda normal for someone to be upset."

"I'm… I'm not upset," Shippo lied stubbornly.

"Yes you are," Inuyasha told him. "You don't have to act so brave all the time, brat."

"…You do…"

Inuyasha took a deep breath before letting it out and continued to talk. "I never knew my father, so I can't really remember him. But I remember my mother… and I still miss her."

Shippo stared wide-eyed at Inuyasha in disbelief.

"So, you going to get back to sleep?" the man asked him.

"Uh-huh," he muttered, though he didn't sound at all enthusiastic.

"Listen… if you get another one of those nightmares again then… then… then just sleep with Kagome, got it? Don't come crying to me anymore," he told him though still more kindly then he often did, gently knocking him on his head with the back of his hand.

"Kay," Shippo agreed. "Can… I sleep with her tonight?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "Do what you want."

Shippo took that as a yes, and scrabbled of his lap and gently into Kagome's sleeping bag, careful not to wake her, as she was still asleep despite all his crying. "Thanks Inuyasha…" he yawned, already fast asleep when he finished his sentence.

Inuyasha sneered slightly as he jumped back into his tree. That little brat could be really annoying. He had better not start waking him up every night because of his stupid nightmares. What kind of a demon even had nightmares anyway? Heck, he was a half demon, and he didn't get nightmares. At least… not anymore.

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**I hope you liked it. If you have any requests for chapters, please let me Know!**


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